Courtesy of Bulldog Film Distribution
Sigourney Weaver faced one of the most horrific sci-fi creatures ever created in Alien. She saw her body possessed by demonic hounds in Ghostbusters. And even witnessed the end of the world as we know it in The Cabin in the Woods. When she says something scares her, we listen. This is the case with The Survivalist (2015).
Writer/director Stephen Fingleton’s grim debut feature drops audiences into a post-apocalyptic landscape where no one trusts anyone, and survival is all that matters. Cold, brutal, riddled with quiet violence, it paints an eerily realistic portrait of the breakdown of civility. A reality all of us should be terrified of. You can stream The Survivalist now on Tubi to see what I mean.
What’s The Survivalist About?
The Survivalist (Martin McCann) lives alone in a brutal, post-apocalyptic world. That is, until Kathryn (Olwen Fouéré) and Milja (Mia Goth) arrive on his doorstep, looking for food. The three come to an agreement, and the women are allowed to stay. But with food scarce, the ladies plotting murder and other threats lurking, survival may not last much longer.
What Sigourney Weaver Has to Say
Sigourney Weaver sat down with Empire not long ago. When asked about upcoming projects, she replied, “I might be doing a movie with this brilliant young director, Stephen Fingleton, whose first film, The Survivalist, was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen.”
Courtesy of Bulldog Film Distribution
Survival at Any Cost
To be clear, The Survivalist isn’t necessarily a horror film. Nor does its primary goal reside in scaring the audience. But that doesn’t stop the chilling effect seeping from the cold atmosphere of the tale. Fingleton’s film terrifies through the familiar notion that survival takes great sacrifice. In a complete breakdown of civilization, it doesn’t matter how “nice” you are. Nice gets you killed. Throughout scenes of little dialogue, quiet tension brews in the pot of mistrust that exists between the characters. Every second of every minute must be spent plotting how to survive the next day.
Fingleton presents an all-too-realistic portrait of post-apocalyptic survival, carried by a superb cast’s top-notch performances. The Survivalist isn’t heavily stylized or overtly cinematic. It’s a straightforward acknowledgement that in dire circumstances, some, if not all of us, are capable of killing to survive. The film puts on display the utter cruelty that rests within the darkest caverns of humanity. I won’t say it re-invents the grim, post-apocalyptic wheel, but Fingleton sure spins it like a pro.
Survive The Survivalist by streaming it on Tubi now. And for more recs like this, follow me on Bluesky @werematt.
Categorized: Streaming News
